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BMW 130I E81/7 GUIDE: PERFORMANCE BARGAIN

Quick, fun and extremely affordable, the BMW 130i is an awesome all-rounder and a brilliant bargain buy if you’re after one car that can do it all on a budget. Here’s our guide to buying and modifying one.

First appeared in Performance BMW. Words: Elizabeth de Latour. Photos: BMW, ESS.

Nowadays just about every hot hatch has at least 300hp so something with less than that might seem a little light on firepower, but back in 2005 the thought of stuffing a 3.0-litre straight-six with 265hp into a hatchback was pretty wild, and the resulting car was a serious little firecracker.

A brief history

The BMW 130i arrived in 2005 and was available in SE and M Sport trim levels in five-door form, with the SE being dropped after 18 months. Power came courtesy of the 3.0-litre N52 straight-six, which delivered 265hp at 6650rpm along with 223lb ft of torque at 2750rpm, and that meant a 0-62 time of just 6.1 seconds along with a limited 155mph top speed. In 2007 the facelift arrived and with it came the three-door body style while EfficientDynamics features were introduced, which lowered emissions and improved fuel economy. The facelift model received revised rear lights with light bars, and the car now came with electric power steering in place of the earlier model’s hydraulic setup. The LCI also brought with it a few minor interior tweaks such as a higher quality dash and door cards. 2007 is also when BMW launched the Limited Edition model, of which only 160 were made; all cars were finished in Carbon black with Lemon leather, featured Style 216 multi-spoke 18s and came equipped with sat nav and electric front seats among other things, but only four seats rather than five. The E81 1 Series is a three-door hatchback, while the E87 is a five-door hatchback.

BMW 130i E81/7 common problems

Noisy hydraulic valve adjusters are one of the main issues you will read about. This affected N52 engine produced before October 2008, and the problem appears as a ticking noise when the engine is first started from cold. The noise is the sound of the valvetrain operating as oil has not yet made its way to the lifters after having drained away when the car is parked. It’s more prevalent on cars that do a lot of short journeys and often clears up after a longer drive. The general consensus is that it’s a characteristic of the engine and there don’t seem to be any reports of it actually causing any damage. Electric water pumps fail and it’s a case of when, not if, it will go wrong. A major potential issue is the camshaft bearing ledge problem; it’s not common but it is very expensive to fix. What happens is that the rings that are in the cam bearing ledges, which house the cams, wear down and allow play, which leads to a groove developing on the ledge and allows fluctuations in oil pressure. The old rings have to be replaced with new Teflon items and if the bearing ledges are grooved the exhaust bearing ledge will have to be replaced (about £400 for the part), but the intake cam bearing is cast into the head and that means you might need a new cylinder head in a worst-case scenario.

The standard-fit run-flats can actually do the suspension some harm so if the previous owner hasn’t removed them check for worn shocks and bushings. Worn inner track rod joints can cause the steering to feel vague and anti-roll bar drop-links will cause a rattle or clonk when they are up for replacement.

The 1 Series is known for numerous interior creaks and rattles, with the front and rear door seals especially notorious for creaking. The seats creak, which can be cured by fitting new seat runners or replacing the backrest, as does the interior light housing, the centre armrest and the centre dash vents. Also, check the dash skin around the area where the passenger airbag is located. The biggest concerns are to do with the steering lock and the DSC system. A yellow or red steering wheel symbol on the dash will point to steering column failure. If a reset doesn’t work, try a CAS module software update and if you still have no joy, then the steering column will need replacing.

Water can collect at the rear of the car and come up into the cabin, resulting in damp rear seats as well as numerous electrical problems. If you can get under the car, there are two plugs that can be removed to allow the water to drain away. If the DSC/DTC warning light is permanently illuminated then that will mean either a failed DSC control unit or ABS pump module, the latter throwing up fault code 5E20; both can suffer from water ingress and you’ll need to replace the faulty item. Numerous warning lights and a PDC error means your PDC unit is wet, so you’ll need to get to it and hopefully will be able to dry it out.

Modifying a BMW 130i

A remap won’t give you a massive increase in power and torque but it will make the engine feel a lot more lively and responsive across the entire rev range and owners who’ve had it done say it’s worth it. An exhaust will sound good and Supersprint and Eisenmann both offer rear silencers, priced around the £700-800 mark. BMW’s M Performance silencer is also worth a look, though it’s no longer available new so you’d have to track down a used example. If you want serious power gains then the latest ESS G1 supercharger kit is the way forward; this non-intercooled setup uses an E-Charger G1 supercharger unit running 6-6.5 psi along with larger Bosch injectors and it increases power by 80-100hp, which will transform your 130i into a serious performance machine. The kit costs around £4300 plus 4-6 hours of fitting.

The BMW 130i handles well out of the box but the stock combo of run-flats and overly stiff suspension on the M Sport model doesn’t do it any favours and there are plenty of chassis upgrades that are worth doing. If you just want a quick fix then a set of lowering springs and some dampers would be a good place to start and for £600 that would make a significant difference to how the car feels, or if you’ve got a bit more cash to spend you can grab a set of BC Racing coilovers for around £900. UK BMW specialist, Birds Auto, spent a lot of time developing a number of chassis upgrades for the 130i and while they’re not cheap if you’re after the best possible handling upgrades, they’re definitely worth a look. The B-Series Sport Suspension kit uses specially valved Bilstein dampers and matched Eibach springs to offer the perfect combination of a good ride and exceptional handling, and it costs £1102.80. You can also buy the B-Series uprated anti-roll bar kit for £480, which features a 90% thicker rear anti-roll bar and a 10% thicker front item, which combine to remove understeer from the handling equation. A Quaife ATB LSD is also a very worthwhile investment as it really helps the 130i put its power down, and is an essential purchase if you supercharge the car – the LSD costs £1102.80. You can also buy the suspension kit, ARBs and LSD together as the B1 Dynamics Package for £2347.20, saving yourself a bit of money and giving you an awesome handling upgrade in one go.

In terms of wheels, if a previous owner hasn’t already got rid of the run-flat tyres then that should be at the top of your to-do list and in terms of wheel size, 19s go on no problem and for many they offer the perfect blend of looks and performance, filling out the 130i’s arches nicely without ruining the handling. An 8×19″ ET40 and 9×19″ ET46 setup with 225/35 and 255/30 tyres will fit, as a guide. If you want to upgrade your brakes you could fit the E8x 135i’s six-pot front calipers – they’re a direct fit and only require the backing plates to be trimmed, or you could get a K-Sport six-pot BBK for around £900 or an eight-pot setup for under £1000, which is a lot of stopping power for
your money.

As for styling, a quick glance at the MStyle website will show you that there is a lot to choose from out there – probably the best-looking styling options are the 1M-look items such as the bonnet, front bumper and front wings, and the M2-look front bumper is also pretty cool. There are numerous roof spoiler and diffuser options available as well, so you can really give your 130i that personal styling touch and really make it stand out from the crowd.

Performance BMW’s pick

Your choices come down to whether you want three or five doors, whether you want the SE or the M Sport and whether you want a manual or an auto. Obviously, it’s all about personal preference and how practical and comfortable you want your 130i to be, but for us, a manual three-door M Sport would be the one we’d want sitting outside our house. The three-door is still very practical but looks better and while the M Sport does have a very stiff suspension setup (more on that later), the more aggressive styling and additional equipment are worth it.

BMW 130i prices

The BMW 130i price range starts from under £4000 and stretches to £7500. The cheapest example was a 125k-mile manual Le Mans blue five-door M Sport car, while for £4500 we found a five-door auto with 74k on the clock. SEs don’t have the M Sport appeal which means you can pick up low-mileage examples for not a whole lot of money – we spotted a well-specced auto with just over 58,000 miles for £5400 and one with just 42k on the clock for £5500. For the same money, you could also get yourself a three-door auto M Sport with 115k miles, while £6250 could get you into a 65,000-mile auto five-door M Sport. If you fancy an LE, the cheapest one we found was up for £6750 with 81k miles.

Verdict

If you’re looking for a fun, affordable and practical all-rounder with some strong modding potential then the 130i is an excellent choice. There are a few potential problems to be aware of but none of the common issues are major ones, and you shouldn’t need to have too much cash set aside to keep your 130i happy and healthy. When it comes to modding there are a lot of options out there, whether you’re just looking for some simple handling and styling upgrades, or whether you want a supercharged, 1M-look monster. For the money, the 130i is great value and an excellent and affordable used purchase and it’s a machine you’ll have a lot of fun with.

BMW 130i tech specs

Engine: 2996cc
Power: 261bhp
Top speed: 155 mph
0-60mph: 5.9 secs
Consumption: 34 mpg
Gearbox: 6sp man
Length: 4239 mm
Width: 1934 mm
Weight: 1385 kg

Source

May 4, 2021
TIME ATTACK MK2 FOCUS RS: TRACK HABIT

James Allen has an all-consuming addiction measured not in tenths of an ounce but in tenths of a second… This is his Time Attack Mk2 Focus RS.

Feature first appeared in Fast Ford magazine. Words: Ben Birch. Photos: Matt Woods

Hands up who’s done a track day, been hooked, and now counts down the days to their next outing? It’s a common story, especially in the world of fast Fords as with a bit of careful tweaking, our humble cars can push much more expensive machinery around the circuit.

James Allen’s Mk2 Focus RS has gone well beyond “a bit of careful tweaking” however. What you see before you is the result of a man and his friends’ OCD obsession around every minute detail, in the pursuit of quicker lap times and a growing trophy cabinet. We’ll let James begin the story with a confession. “I was a Vauxhall man”, he admits with a laugh, “I had a modified Astra VXR, a road / track day car that I had my heart set on competing with in some kind of motorsport.” A trip out in a friends Focus RS thankfully made him see the light, big time. “I went for a spirited drive in his car and I had to buy one – it felt so solid, had amazing road presence, and had tons more grip than the Astra despite the Astra having a diff and loads of chassis mods… it was simply night and day a better car.” An Ultimate Green model with 20k on the clock was purchased, and the plan was to keep it as a standard weekend road car, right James? “Erm, that was what I told myself,” he grins, “but by day one I’d already fitted an intercooler, and then I was introduced to Rob at SCC… the rest is history!”

Rob and James quickly became good friends and decided to build a competent street and track toy using as much off-the-shelf hardware as possible. “We wanted to show what was achievable for everyday punters like me,” he explains, “even today, most of what we’ve done to this car you can buy the exact same parts and do to your car”. Revo software took the RS to around 400bhp, and track days became a regular thing. The rear of the interior was stripped to accommodate a half roll-cage, and James started to get the bug. “It didn’t help that around the same time, Rob and another one of my mates with an Evo decided to enter Time Attack, and I started helping them as pit crew at the weekends.” Being in that environment and around the buzz of a race weekend, eventually tipped James over the edge! “In 2016 I entered as a one-hit wonder for three races in the Time Attack entry class,” he remembers, “Pembrey, Snetterton and Oulton Park.” Officially, the only changes needed to the car in the rule book were a harness and an extinguisher. But before entering Pembrey, James’ competitive spirit took over. “I stripped the car completely, a mate and I welded in a six point cage, I took out the rear and front crash bars to remove weight, and I removed a load of the rear wiring too.” In what would become standard OCD fashion for the rest of the build, James spent one and a half days on that wiring job alone, but it was worth it as he saved 13.5kg!

Needless to say he loved the three taster events, and entered properly into the Club 2wd class, where he spent another two years improving the car and also himself as a driver. “My eyes were opened when I bought a Racelogic V-Box datalogger, and started to check my section times, when I was going on and off the throttle, poring over reams of data. I started to go through a process of; improving myself, thus finding the limits of the car, then improving the car, and starting the process all over again”. As a consequence, big leaps forward in the car’s development came thick and fast starting with the diff, coilovers, a SCC rebuilt engine, and more weight saving. “The hours I spent underneath the car pressing holes in the floor and swaging them for strength is ridiculous,” James remembers, “I took out the roof brace as I have the cage and carbon roof, and I filled up boxes and weighed every last gram”. The car now weighs 1175kg with 30-litres of fuel and the driver on board, and when you consider the SCC engine makes up to 550bhp, you have a very serious 450+bhp/tonne. But James doesn’t rate the straight line performance as the biggest game changer. “My advice to anyone is to develop a really good chassis setup before you even bother to get more power,” he urges, “set the chassis up, learn to drive it fast first and then add power – I have 10 boost settings but I only use up to setting 5.”

The three most fundamental differences to the car were the change to slick tyres, the Quaife gearbox, and the ECU mapped by Gary at APT. Starting with the latter, the car was always good on the Revo software but there are limits to what it can do, and James remembers the day Gary mapped it on the new ECU. “It came alive,” he smiles, “a massive difference.” The gearbox was a bit of an obsession after seeing the demo unit at Autosport International. “I bugged the Quaife rep for ages who said they needed a distributor, then bugged mountune for ages when they became the distributor – I actually sent 133 emails to the poor guy before he caved in!” he laughs. The effort was worth it though, as the ‘box offers shorter ratios and much quicker changes, in a mostly bolt-in solution. “The car accelerates out of the corners like an animal now,” gushes James, “it really is an amazing enhancement”. The slick tyres are the king of the mods though, as they’ve made the car quicker in braking, around corners, and allow him to get on the power more quickly. “But we’ve had to tweak every aspect of the car around them,” explains James, “we had to play around with the suspension, the arms, the fuel system… the slicks took everything else to its limit”. Luckily, Rob at SCC has been spannering for the BTCC teams over the past few years, so he picked up a few tricks for chassis tweaks along the way. “Rob and I played around with the settings as the car was now rolling and squatting too much with the increased grip from the slicks. We ended up leaving the bump on hard, softening the rebound, and lowering the rear ride height. It worked like a dream!” They also noticed from pictures that the wheels were moving around in the arches under cornering. “ARC made us up some tubular arms – fully rose jointed so taking out any play in the normal bushes. They made a big difference, and also enabled us to dial in more camber than before” says James. He runs 4 degrees negative on the front and 3.8 degrees negative on the rear, toe and castor are set up to the mountune RS500 Focus settings. The final issue caused by the slicks was fuel starvation –enter Pro-Alloy. “Alex and the guys there made the baffled fuel tank, and also all of the intercooler, rad, boost pipes etc,” says James, “everything is an absolute work of art, I almost didn’t want to put it all on the car and get it dirty,” he laughs.

The sum of all of this modifying, and testing, and waking up in the middle of the night to write down ideas, is a car that has chopped almost six seconds a lap from its times, from when it was in the Club 2wd Class compared to today – the Pro Extreme 2wd Class. That is huge, and so is James’ well-earned success. “This is our first year in the Pro Extreme 2wd Class, and we’ve won our class!” Yes, that’s right, James has recently been crowned Pro Extreme 2WD Champion 2019. “Every time I get in the car I have a huge smile on my face,” he grins, “don’t get me wrong it’s 10% actual driving, with 90% planning, tweaking, improving, but the Focus is now such an amazing all-rounder and we have a great time when we’re all away for a weekend.” Fast Ford congratulates James and everyone involved in the build, it’s great to see someone making that leap from track days to motorsport, and even more so they are winning titles in a good old Blue Oval!

Tech Spec: Time Attack Mk2 Focus RS

Engine:

SCS Delta 800 ECU, Bosch 1000cc injectors, custom turbo-back side-exit Milltek exhaust system, Anembo billet inlet manifold, Newman Stage 1 cams, Pro-Alloy breather system, 90mm induction kit, 90mm cross over pipe, header tank, ‘Ultimate’ intercooler, big boost pipe kit, radiator and custom fuel cell, Walbro GST450 fuel pump, modified return fuel rail, Turbosmart FPR1200 fuel pressure regulator, Garrett GTX3076R turbo, SCC tubular exhaust manifold, Tial 44mm wastegate, Tial 50mm BOV, Setrab 405mm 13-row oil cooler, Wiseco pistons, K1 con-rods, 70mm throttle body, block mod, WRT billet crank pulley and WRT air-con delete pulley, potted lower inlet manifold

Power:

450bhp – 550bhp depending on boost level

Transmission:

Quaife QKE45Z M66 sequential gearbox, Helix 6 paddle clutch, 3J plated diff with 3.5:1 final drive

Suspension:

KW 2-way Competition coilovers, custom ARC tubular rose jointed wish bones and track, toe and camber arms, Whiteline front and rear anti-roll bars, rose-jointed drop links

Brakes:

Revo/Alcon 6-pot front calipers with 380mm floating discs, SCC /Wilwood rear 330mm disc kit, Ferodo DS UNO pads

Wheels & tyres:

9x18in et35 Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2, 265/645/18 Pirelli P-Zero slicks and wets

Exterior:

ACR Composites carbon fibre roof, WRC vents, WRC body kit and Evo splitter, carbon fibre bonnet, M-Sport carbon fibre WRC wing, M-Sport carbon fibre hot climate mirrors, Polycarbonate windows

Interior:

Custom Cages T45 6-point Clubman roll-cage, OMP steering wheel, Sabelt harnesses, Cobra Suzuka bucket seats, Motec c125 data-logging dash, Liteblox carbon fibre lithium ion battery

Source

April 30, 2021
WIDEBODY MK5 GOLF GTI: SIMPLES

The Mk5 Golf may have been around for a decade and a half but it can still look pretty damn fresh, especially after a few choice mods as Ryan’s widebody Mk5 Golf GTI will now demonstrate…

Feature first appeared in Performance VW. Words & photos: Jon Cass

It’s hard to believe the Mk5 Golf has been around over 15 years now, but in that time, it’s made its presence felt on the show scene for sure. Twenty-three-year-old Ryan Willows has been a huge Mk5 fan right from the start and he’s taken his latest widebody Mk5 Golf GTI further than most would dare. “Even while I was at school, I wanted a Golf GTI,” Ryan recalls, “I had a vision of a wide arched Mk5 which I hadn’t seen on the modified car scene before.”

By 17, when most of us would be considering a miserable three-cylinder one-litre granny mobile, Ryan was already rocking a Mk4 Golf 1.6 SR which he soon modified with lowering springs, 19” BBS LM replicas and a full R32 bodykit. “I fitted a twin cherry bomb exhaust and resprayed it in Jazz blue House of Kolor glitter,” he adds.

Despite taking the Mk4 to an impressive level so quickly, it was the respected Mk5 that Ryan really lusted after, the Mk4 was sold on and in its place came a 1.9 Mk5 TDI. “This soon became a full GTI replica and was the first car I bagged,” he points out. On went a set of 3SDM 0.06 rims and Ryan soon became a regular at shows.

The progression to a Mk6 seemed only natural and once funds allowed, Ryan soon had the keys to a Mk6 1.6 TDI. Yet again, this one didn’t remain stock for long and was treated to a full R20 bodykit and Rotiform TMB alloys. The Mk6 experience wasn’t to last however, within a year Ryan realized he preferred his older Mk5.

This time around and armed with a few more years no claims on his insurance, Ryan began searching for the best Mk5 GTI he could find. “I’d been looking for a while and came across this 2005 GTI in Tornado red, three hours away in Newcastle,” he recalls, “it had a couple of areas of minor rust, but it was stock and unmodified, perfect for what I had planned.”

The bagged look of his previous Mk5 had gone down really well and Ryan decided to take the same route with his latest Mk5 GTI which runs an Air Lift Performance v2 system. Now, a bagged Mk5 GTI is nothing unusual these days, but the next step was certainly more extreme to say the least! “The bodywork was in fantastic condition, but I was still keen on the idea of running a wide arched look,” Ryan recalls, “this meant I had to cut out the original arches to fit the larger ESC Tuning carbon fibre arches.”

We should point out here that Ryan is a bodyshop technician by trade, but even so, he was admittedly nervous when it came to butchering the bodywork on his beloved GTI! “I really didn’t know what the end result would be,” Ryan laughs, “I knew if I messed this up it’d be very hard to rectify!” Luckily, his worst fears were never realized and the carbon arches fitted perfectly at the first attempt. The original GTI rims would now look more like castors, but Ryan already had a set of Rota MXR rims waiting in the wings. With a 10″ measurement at the front and 11″ at the rear, he’s managed to nail that perfect stance while also filling those wide arches once the car is dropped into the weeds too.

Ryan could easily have left things there and received plenty of admiration for his handiwork, but he was keen to ensure the remainder of the bodywork had a purposeful and aggressive look to match those arches too. “I adapted a Focus ST front splitter to fit the GTI front bumper than grafted on an R32 rear diffuser which helps support the custom twin exit exhaust I had made,” Ryan points out.

The Mk5 remained in that guise for a year, still wearing its tornado red paintwork. Without a doubt, it was already beginning to stand out from the pack, but not quite enough for Ryan. By chance Steve Kempster was building himself a widebody Mk6 around this time and helped Ryan keep motivated.

“The standard rear spoiler now looked out of proportion and I considered a small carbon extension,” Ryan explains, “then I saw an ad for the big BYC rear wing and knew that would have a much bigger impact.” Not many cars could pull off wearing a rear wing this size, but combined with the clever selection of upgrades Ryan had already added, we can agree it really doesn’t look out of place.

Working in a bodyshop has its advantages and Ryan was able to use the spray booth from his day job to create a dramatic colour change. “Stealth grey had always appealed to me,” he explains, “I’d been inspired by Focus STs wearing this colour and reckoned it would suit my Golf.” He was right too and combined with the black wheels and trim and that freshly smoothed tailgate, he’s now achieved the look he envisaged all those years ago.

The Mk5’s TFSI turbocharged unit is a strong performer out of the box, but Ryan was keen to extract a little more power from the 2.0. “I’ve had it remapped and fitted an Audi R8 coil pack along with a bigger Audi S3 intercooler,” he points out. Along with the custom Powerflow exhaust, this lot brings the power up to an impressive 250bhp. He’s also added an Audi S3 engine cover and intake to ensure his GTI stands out from any standard example.

With that aggressive exterior , you may expect to see a fully stripped out interior and excessive full roll cage. While that might sound the natural direction to take, Ryan still drives this car every day and covers a load of miles. Thoughts of a deafening 200-mile journey and back seat passengers left behind don’t really appeal, so a compromise has been met by swapping the original GTI seats for a pair of leather Recaro wingback seats, the carbon fibre trim hinting towards the motorsport theme. Ryan’s adaptive handiwork has again come in useful for the neat iPad build linked to a Kenwood stereo. Perfect for those long-distance road trips to shows!

The response to Ryan’s wideboy Mk5 Golf GTI has been positive and just as he intended it attracts attention wherever he takes it. “There’s always plenty of thumbs up and photos being taken, its great,” Ryan smiles.

Routinely he’d have moved on to his next project by now, but considering the colossal amount of hours he’s poured into this one over the last three years, he’s decided he’ll hang on to it for some time yet! Having said that, he confessed to a classic VW being an exciting proposition or maybe even a Golf R…

Tech Spec: Widebody Mk5 Golf GTI

Engine:

2.0T GTI with Audi S3 intercooler, custom Powerflow exhaust, Audi R8 coilpack and remap, Audi S3 engine cover and intake

Chassis:

10×18” and 11×18” Rota MXR wheels, MK5 Golf Air Lift Performance v2 management

Exterior:

BYC wide wings, ECS Tuning carbon fibre arches, Focus splitter, R32 rear bumper, shaved bonnet notch, smoothed tailgate and full respray in Stealth grey

Interior:

Recaro leather wingbacks and carbon fibre trims

Audio:

iPad build linked to a Kenwood stereo

Source

April 29, 2021